TheLifeandTimes19
patreon
Slipping the Noose
🕑 Added 2024-02-27 19:39:52 +0000 UTCSlipping the Noose
The aftermath of the battle was something to behold. It was a gruesome scene that would have Harry retching if he hadn’t already seen worse things. The bottom of the hill had turned into a deathtrap. Bodies were piled on top of each other, being four corpses high in some places. Red painted the grass, turning the once green hill into a tapestry of crimson and death.
There were no prisoners taken amongst the enemy soldiers. Hadrian decided that he would offer no mercy to those who would see him and his harmed. Those who ran were chased down by the wolves and birds under the command of the Children of the Forest. Those who surrendered were swiftly killed.
The Septon's who lead the raid were all taken alive. Hadrian would be taking all seven of them to Winterfell where he would execute them in front of the Heart Tree.
Harry knew that word would get out to the South about him executing the Septon's like that. A lot of Lords who are very religious would be greatly angered. Not at the fact he killed the Septon's. Most Lords would probably agree with him that the Septon's had to die. No Lord with even a bit of intelligence will like the idea of a new Faith Militant. Still, those who were religious would be angry if he sacrificed the Septon's to the Heart Tree. To savage gods, in their eyes.
Honestly, he was hoping it would force some of those Lords and the Faith itself to act rashly. More openly. Harry honestly wanted to build support for the Faith Militant back in the South. The more of them there were, the more angered and bolder they felt, the more of a distraction they would act as for North.
If he was lucky some of the less intelligent Lords would openly support the Faith Militant. That would not be something the crown would be able to allow. They would have to come down hard on those Lords and the Faith. If they don’t, they would lose a lot of authority. Tywin Lannister, at least, will not allow that. Not when his blood will soon sit on the throne.
The more chaos in the South now, the better it would be for the North in the long run. Chaos will cause the South to weaken and fracture, while order in the North will cause it to prosper. Especially once he has gotten rid of Roose Bolton and other internal enemies.
Harry knows that the North was almost at the point where it could defend itself from the South without major worries. With the help of the Giants, Mammoths and Children they could probably defend themselves now. The North has always been all but impossible to conquer from outside, with their help, it will be that much more difficult.
But it would be a struggle that would cost many of his people their lives.
No, he would rather keep the South busy with troubles from the Faith Militant while the North continues to build up strength relatively unnoticed thanks to the Faith pulling so much attention to themselves.
It will still be the work of years to get the North ready to stand on its own without major worries. First, he has to get rid of all traitors within the North. Then he has to spend a few more years of fortifying and building up defenses, in Moat Cailin and along the coasts and in the rivers. Some more time building up the Northern Army and Navy would also be a great help. Time to strengthen the Northern economy from goods from across the world. Time to give the Children and Giants a chance to integrate into the North properly.
Time was what Hadrian needed the most. Time he is hoping the Faith Militant will provide.
But that was the focus of the future. Right now, Hadrian had more immediate things to worry about. Like the report on the Bolton forces.
“They are how far away?” He asked.
Leaf had a grimace on her face. “Half a day. The main army of four thousand men is to the South–West. Between us and Winterfell. There are smaller pockets of a few hundred men spread around though, in all directions and closing in. I Imagine they are there to slow us down. So far, we have prevented any of his scouts from reporting our movements, but Roose Bolton is still rapidly marching in our direction.”
Hadrian, his three Lords and Leaf, were sitting in his tent around a table to discuss their next steps while the men collected the bodies of their fallen and treated the wounded.
Harry grimaced before looking at his lords. "Options?" he asked.
Lord Karstark was the first to respond. "It will take at least five days for the Northern Army to march this distance. Even then it will only be a thousand men at maximum. We haven't had the time to train more yet. Not with how intense the training is. I believe we should try and retreat to gather more men before going on the offensive."
Harry gave the Lord a nod before looking towards Lord Umber for his opinion.
Lord Umber grumbled unhappily to himself for a few moments before taking a large gulp of his ale. He slammed his empty cup on the table and crossed his arms before answering. "It will take Last Hearth a few days to gather the men in the first place. As we don't have the men ready to march like the army does. It will probably be a similar amount of time for a similar number of men to gather and march to us. We should retreat there for a few weeks and raise a proper army from my lands and Karstarks lands, before marching to crush the cunt." It looked like it physically hurt the lord to suggest retreat, but he swallowed his pride and did it anyway.
Harry hummed lightly under his breath before looking towards the last Lord.
Lord Manderly seemed to still be celebrating their victory over The Faith Militant. He was eating his third meat pie since they all gathered, while sipping on a glass of Dornish Red. He had quickly stopped eating to answer Harry's question though. "Fighting Roose Bolton while this severely outnumbered isn't a good idea. It was one thing to destroy an army of peasants while outnumbered, but Roose Bolton is different. He is an excellent commander. His men are well trained and well-armed. Even if you pull off another clever tactic like you did with the Faith Militant and we somehow win, there will still be a lot of casualties. There are too many important figures present that could cause a lot of damage should we die. If you alone were to die, My Lord, it would greatly weaken the North. As your uncle is a good Lord, but he doesn't have your vision or intelligence. Then there's the few Children and Giants the North just gained. Not to mention each of us are the heads of our Houses. Houses that are each undergoing changes. There is too much to be lost if we risk a battle now. Too much chaos will be had in the North should we die."
Harry nodded to show he was listening before turning towards Leaf.
The Child of the Forest was quick to answer his unspoken question. “I have not been a part of a war for a long, long time. Even when I was, my people fought differently than men do. I am afraid I do not know enough about wars between men to give you proper answers. “
Harry smiled slightly at the answer she gave. It gave him a lot of hope she would be a good advisor and representative of her people. There are not many who would acknowledge that they don't know something. It was a quality that Hadrian greatly respects.
He turned away from Leaf and closed his eyes to think for a few moments. After a couple of seconds Harry opened his eyes with an exhale and released a sigh before speaking. "Very well, we will not engage Bolton. We will use the skinchangers and the Children to avoid him and his men. I only fear that he will retreat to the Dreadfort when he knows we have escaped and that he will make it as difficult as possible to dislodge him. As Bolton will know that is his best chance to sue for peace, if we want to avoid a bloodbath." He said bitterly, before continuing. "We will not be marching to Last Hearth though."
That got a confused frown from all the Lords present so Harry quickly continued. “No doubt Bolton will try to make as much chaos in the North as possible now. To give himself a fighting chance. I fear that he will contact the Magnars of Skagos and tell them about our plans to fully conquer the island, if he hasn't already. So, I want Lord Karstarks forces to be on high alert all along the coast. We will be going to Winterfell so that we can gather a proper army. A large one, to hopefully minimize the amount of blood that is about to be shed on our side. Lord Umber you will send a raven to Last Hearth and have them begin calling their banners but keep the men there for now. We will see where they will be most needed in the coming days.”
Each of the Lords gave nods of understanding. So Harry turned to solve their next issue.
"Leaf." Harry called. The Child of the Forest looked at him with open curiosity on her face. Harry continued once he got her attention. "I want one of the Children to skinchange into something and check on Winterfell. Another few must be ready to help us sneak past the army in our way."
After that, Harry stood up and began walking out of the tent. "We will be moving fast. Prepare the men to march."
Harry heard each of the Lords give their agreement as he walked outside.
Line Break....
It took them almost the rest of the day and part of the night marching, to completely sneak around Roose Boltons army. Doing so was only possible in the first place because he had so many skinchangers available to act as scouts due to the Children. Even so, it was impossible to miss all the different groups Bolton sent out to slow him down.
His men were forced to kill a group of one hundred scouts who were in their way, without letting any escape, before they could slip around Bolton during the night.
They were forced to march without the use of torches and were therefore completely reliant on the skinchangers to lead them in the right direction. More than one man got minorly injured due to stepping into a hole or tripping over a rock. By the time Hadrian had his men stop to rest for the night, they were completely exhausted. Harry didn't think they could march much longer, even if he ordered it.
His army had made quite a bit of distance on Bolton though. Which was the main worry for the moment. So, he had the men marching at a much slower pace the next day.
It was a few hours after they began marching again that he learnt more news about Bolton. According to the skinchanger he had watching Roose, the Lord of the Dreadfort had finally discovered that Hadrians army had managed to slip past him.
Just as Harry had predicted, Roose Bolton wasted no further time in chasing him down. For all his faults, Roose Bolton was an excellent commander and knew that Hadrians army was faster. So he started immediately moving towards the Dreadfort after sending out several ravens with messages.
It was easy for his skinchangers to intercept some of the messages and bring them back for Hadrian to read. Just as he predicted, the Lord of the Dreadfort was trying to create chaos. Several messages were for some men that Roose had hiding in Wintertown that were meant to attempt to kidnap one of his cousins, if at all possible. A few more were addressed to the Lords of Skagos. There was even a letter for one of the Septons stationed in White Harbour.
Unfortunately, Roose had always been a paranoid man. He sent multiple ravens for each message and sent riders on top of that. It seems he wasn't taking any chances in his messages being stopped.
So, Harry did what he could. He had orders sent to White Harbour to increase the security of Lord Manderlys grandchildren. He had more messages sent to his uncle to call the banners and he had warned him to keep his cousins inside Winterfell, at all times. Lord Karstark had already sent orders to his men to begin preparing for an invasion from Skagos.
All that was left was to reach Winterfell as quickly as possible. Fortunately, there were no more delays on their journey, so they managed to reach Winterfell a few days later.
Before riding through Wintertown, Harry ordered a few of his men to lead most of the Children and Giants to a clearing near the Wolfswood. It wouldn't do to march a hundred Giants through Wintertown and overwhelm his citizens. It would be better if they had a chance to properly get used to the idea of giants before showing them just how many there were.
Of the Children, only Leaf would accompany him into Winterfell. While only the leader of the Giants, Mag Mar WunToh Weg, would do the same. Both were the leaders of their respective people and would help Hadrian solve any issues that came up regarding the Children and the Giants in the coming days.
The journey through Wintertown seemed to greatly lift the spirits of Harry and his men. They all took great amusement at all the awed looks the Children of the Forest and the Giant were getting from the citizens. Unlike some other places in the North, the people of Wintertown had always been stringent supporters of the Old Gods. So, it didn't really surprise him to get this reaction from its citizens. Still, it was something to be happy about. It gave Harry real hope that the Giants and Children would be accepted by his people. Hope that they will become citizens of the North for real, in time.
Riding through the gates of Winterfell, Harry had to physically force himself not to burst out laughing from the gobsmacked look on his uncle Neds face when he laid eyes on Leaf and Mag Mar.
Lord Umber didn't even try to control his laughter. “Har! Har! You look like a virgin who saw his first pair of tits Ned!”
The rest of the Lords were quick to join the Lord in his laughter. Hadrian did his best to keep his face a mask of neutrality. Even if he was dying of laughter on the inside. It wouldn't do for his image to slip in front of so many people. Not at such an important time. Still, a small smile snuck onto his face despite his attempts.
Eddard always had excellent control over his emotions however, and was quick to snap out of his trance.
He swiftly turned his attention to Hadrian and bowed his head. “Nephew, I'm happy to see you back. “
Harry finally allowed a smile as he dismounted and closed the distance to his uncle. Wrapping the man in a short hug. “I'm glad to be back uncle.”
He released the hug and gestured with his hands. “Allow me to introduce you. This is Leaf, she is the leader of the Children of the Forest and this is Mag Mar WunToh Weg, the leader of the Giants.”
Ned bowed his head once again. “It is an honor to meet you Leaf and Mag Mar WunToh Weg.”
Leaf bowed her head back. “It is my honor Lord Stark. “
Mag Mar pounded his fist into his chest. “Stark!” He finished with a nod.
Harry turned back to his uncle. “He can understand common, but the Giants all only speak in the Old Tongue. “
His uncle just nodded, still looking a bit dazed, nobody would be able to notice unless they knew him well, however. “I see.”
With that Harry turned to Vayon Pool who had been lingering nearby. “Vayon.” He called. Making the steward snap his attention away from the giant and onto him.
Vayon flushed slightly and bowed his head. “Apologies My Lord. “
Harry just waved him off. “Don't worry about it. It will take some time to get used to. I understand.” The steward just gave a thankful bow of his head before looking at Harry for his orders.
Harry didn't waste any time. “I need you to deliver food to the camp that the Giants and Children are currently staying in.”
He then turned his attention to Leaf and Mag Mar. “It might be best if you helped him. I'm not sure what you guys can eat without any problems. Or how much you need.”
Leaf bowed her head. “Very well.” Before walking towards the steward. Mag Mar thumped his chest one more time and did the same after another cry of “Stark!”.
Harry turned to back to his uncle. “Where is everyone else?”
Eddard grimaced slightly. “When I heard you were coming with a Giant, I thought it best if Catelyn took the children for their lessons. To prevent a scene. Jon is with Luwin, also busy with lessons.”
Harry made a sound of understanding and nodded along with his uncle's words. It was probably for the best that they weren't here. The children would want to cling to him, Mag Mar or Leaf. Not that Harry minded, but there were certain things they all needed to get done first. The less said about Catelyn's possible reaction the better.
He dismissed those thoughts from his mind for now. There were much more serious topics to be spoken about first.
Harry left his uncle there to give his greetings to the other Lords and to get them settled in, with a reminder to meet him in his solar afterwards, so that they could talk properly.
Harry swiftly made his way through Winterfell, nodding his greetings to all those he passed on the way. Within a few minutes, he was seated inside of his solar behind his desk in front of a comfortable fire, looking at the documents that were spread around it.
Harry passed the next bit of time by checking up on how his various projects were doing and checking on the state of the Norths finances. Overall, things seemed to be going how he expected it to. There were a few small bumps in some of his construction projects in the time that he had been gone, such as a shortage of stone or labor, but Harry was happy to see that his uncle had handled those issues swiftly.
It was half an hour later that there was a knock on his door.
“Come.” He called. The door opened and his uncle entered the solar looking grim. Harry guessed it was about the war with Bolton. He probably would have seen this look on his uncle's face earlier, if he wasn't so distracted by the Wag Mar or Leaf.
Ned took a seat and began the conversation. “So, Bolton has finally decided to act.”
Harry released a sigh and sat back, slouching slightly in his chair. “Yes. We were lucky, in a way. If it wasn't for the Giants and Children, we would have probably had to run from the Faith Militant. Which means they would have scattered throughout the North and caused chaos all over the place. If it wasn't for the Children being skinchangers, we would have had significantly larger difficulties running from Bolton. Mostly likely we would have died.”
His uncle grew even more grim. “Thank the gods they accepted your offer then.”
Harry let out a short huff. “Aye.”
After several moments of silence. Ned continued. “What are you going to do?”
Harry just arched an eyebrow. “I see you have already called the banners. So, I will be going to war. I will rip Bolton from that castle and execute him.”
Ned just looked unamused. “Thats not what I meant, and you know it.”
Harry sighed and slouched even more. “Domeric?”
Ned looked slightly sympathetic but didn't let it stop him from confirming Hadrian's answer. “Aye, Domeric.”
Harry ran a hand through his hair. “In truth? I don't know uncle. I haven't decided. A big part of me wants to take this as an opportunity to remove the Boltons for good. It is the smart thing to do. But Domeric....he's my cousin and he's not at all like his father. I don't know if I can take the Lordship away from him.”
His uncle remained quiet and let him think.
Harry slumped his shoulders. “For now? I haven't made my mind up. I will see the state of the Dreadfort and I will see how far Roose is willing to go. I will decide once I have him in custody.”
After a moment his uncle spoke. “We shouldn't judge him based on his father's crimes.”
Harry sighed even louder. “If only it were so simple uncle. I have to think about the message this will send. The Boltons have rebelled against us a few times in the past and each time, it has just been for greed. We let them get away with it the first time and they rebelled again. We let them live after the second time and now they are rebelling again. This time they were even willing to work with the Faith Militant. An enemy that brought our Houses together during the reign of the Hungry Wolf. If I let them get away with their third rebellion, a rebellion that was also caused by nothing more than greed, what message will that send to the rest of the Lords? That they can rebel without having to worry about their Houses being punished, as long as they have an innocent child that can take over once they die? Because House Stark won't punish their children for their parents crimes? How long before House Bolton tries the same thing again? Or before another House does? What do we do the next time a lord has a child and decides to rebel because he knows the future of his House is secured, no matter what he does?”
Harry took a breath before continuing. “If this was their first or second rebellion, I would agree with you. But House Bolton has pulled this same trick twice before. There needs to be a line. A cut off point. The third rebellion seems like a good place to have one. If Domeric wasn't my cousin I wouldn't even hesitate. I would send him off to The Wall without a second thought. It is because he is my cousin and I care for him that this is so much harder.”
His uncle just nodded grimly. “I understand nephew. Just remember that there are more punishments than just death, banishment or The Wall. You could increase their taxes. Take land from them or even put a limit on the number of men at arms they can have.”
Harry just sighed. “Aye. Aye, you are right uncle. I don't like the idea of punishing a child for their parents sins either. I wouldn't ever kill a child in such a scenario, but I can't let the House itself just escape punishment because a child is now in charge. That way lies constant rebellion. There needs to be consequences that would make even Bolton second guess rebellion. I really don't enjoy the thought of having to punish the innocent members of a House. I just like the idea of the same House rebelling against us continually, and getting away with it every time, even less.” He sighed even deeper. “I will think of something.”
Harry decided to banish those thoughts for now. He would have to decide what to do later.
For now, there were other problems to discuss. “Any news on the Whitehills?”
Thankfully his uncle took the change in topic with grace. “One of your Huntsmen has been giving me regular updates about him. He was incredibly angry when you banned building anymore Septs, he apparently had quite a lot of negative things to say about you. Thats about all he has done though. He might have helped the Faith Militant given the chance. Luckily, it appears that they didn't reach out to him. Or if they did, he decided to ignore them. Probably because there is not much help he could have provided. The Forresters and Glovers would be able to swiftly defeat House Whitehill should they try anything.”
Harry hummed under his breath. “I will still have my Hunstman keep an e-”
“Let me through! I want to see Harry!” He was interrupted by shouting coming from the door. Followed by the muffled sound of his guards trying to get someone to calm down.
Harry couldn't help but release a chuckle which was matched by his uncle. He stood up from his desk and started approaching the door. “Come on uncle. We will finish this later. Better not keep my cousins waiting any longer.”
Ned followed, still chuckling under his breath. “Aye, better not.”
Apologies for the extremely late chapter. Work has been ridiculous since the new year and i kept hitting a wall with my writing. This must be the fourth or fifth time i have rewritten this chapter. At first i had Harry try and fight Bolton before realizing how stupid and risky that would be. Then i had him destroying Boltons food stores, raiding his army and a bunch of other things before eventually deciding that retreat makes the most sense. I had the Whitehills join the rebellion before realizing that would be stupid of them. Eventually this is what i settled on making the most sense. Even now, I'm not completely happy with the chapter but i just want to get past it so that i can continue the story.
Comments
Jakelyne
Came over from ffnet love your writing!
ABDI ALI
Just caught up to your great story. Any idea when the next update will be?
Blake Brown
Hey man, great chapter! any eta on when the next one is coming out!
Black Wolf
I would do what Rickard Alvarez suggests and take Domeric’s heirship to the dread-fort away from him. Make him a minor lord of the Starks or Umbers. Give the Dreadfort to Jon Snow and make him a Snowstark. This may anger Catelyn, but at least it would be a way to send him away from her ire. This way Hadrian doesn’t have to kill Domeric, and the Boltons no longer have the Dreadfort. The Boltons would have a loss of lands, increase of taxes, and as a minor lord couldn’t raise as many men. For Skaagos, I would destroy them root and stem and make it into a base for a second Western Fleet. The location is close to Hardhome, which is perfect for trading with the Free Folk. If there is an issue at Hardhome, this fleet can be quick to respond.
Black Wolf
I agree. I would take the Dreadfort away from him and give it to Jon Snow. Maybe he can rename it to the SnowFort and become a cadet branch of the Starks called the SnowStarks.
Richard Alvarez
House Stark ended their own Cadet branch the Greystarks when they joined the Boltons in rebellion. The only reason the Boltons survived was because the Starks needed them. House Stark was stronger with the Boltons as Vassals. Now House Stark is becoming stonger then ever and doesn’t need them. Which is probably why Roose who is normally a lot more conservative and calculating was quick to rebel because with the way things are going the Starks will be too strong to even think about it. No doubt Domeric being innocent also contributed to the decision thinking even if he failed his House would live on. Tywin destroyed two Noble lines so his vassals never even think about rebelling. Sometimes a strong message is needed. House Bolton can not be allowed to keep their lands and holdings after this. The matter of Domeric is more difficult. Either exile him or grant him a minor holding provided he change his name and swears fealty to a House that is more trustworthy such as the Karstarks or Umbers
Richard Alvarez
Generally speaking the Iron Throne stays out of the internal matters of each Kingdom. That’s why it’s still referred to as the seven Kingdoms. The Kings Peace law requires lords to take their disputes between each other to their Liege Lord. So the Vassals can’t fight amongst each other. But it’s the Lord Paramounts job to keep control of his Vassals. Which is why the Lord paramounts will tie their strongest Vassals to them by marriage so nobody will even think about rebelling. To answer your question it is extremely unlikely that the Iron Throne will interfere unless an all out civil war was to happen. Notice Tywin was never punished for ending two. Obie lines. If a Vassal was able to successfully oust their liege lord and actually had the majority support of the Kingdom is very likely the Crown would accept them as new Paramounts. Of course it also depends on the King. Robert would destroy the Boltons if they overthrew the Starks
Asharzal
Thanks for the chapter! The next update will hopefully be soon. As for how Harry could deal with the Boltons, Roose has to die, no point argueing there. But Domeric, kinslaying is a big no-no, so he will be permitted to live. But a big chunk of the Bolton lands will go straight to either the Hornwoods or preferably the Karstarks, alongside a raise in taxes. Also make sure to impress it on him that this is the last chance for House Bolton, one step out of line and the Red Kings will themselves be flayed alive.
Asharzal
The Iron Throne would immediately lose the trust of it's subjects if it doesn't protect them and their positions. Say you are the Lord of Highgarden. Would you stay loyal to a King who wouldn't punish a vassal that just overthrew and killed his overlord? What if the Florents and a number of other Houses try the same thing? Will the King help me or will he leave me to fend for myself and just accept my possible replacement?
darknexx97848
Nice chapter btw xD
darknexx97848
You know this chapter made me think, what would happen if in a open rebelion, like this one or the one of the reynes (did i butchered the name? ) of castamere, the rebelling house wins and destroys the rulling house? Would the iron throne punish them and name someone else as the new rulers or they wouldn't care as long as the victor swears loyalty?
